The object of the present invention is a method for forming strips of containers.
Specifically, but not exclusively, the present invention can be used for forming one or more continuous strips of containers in a heat-sealable and thermoformable plastic material.
It is already known to form continuous strips of containers by means of indexing two webs facing each other to a series of operating stations that transform the webs into at least one strip of containers.
The operating stations may comprise, for example, one or more preheating stations to preheat the two webs in heat-sealable and thermoformable material facing each other, a sealing station in which the webs are heat-sealed in preset areas in order to obtain alveoli provided with a mouth, and a thermoforming station in which the alveoli are expanded into suitable forming cavities by injecting a forming fluid into the alveoli through the mouths. Patent IT 1243064 shows an example of a method of this kind.
Several different aspects of the known methods can be improved, in particular in terms of productivity increase and reject reduction.
An object of the present invention is to improve known methods, especially the aforementioned aspects thereof.
One advantage of the invention is to provide a method through which it is possible to obtain, per time unit, a relatively high number of containers arranged in a continuous strip.
Another advantage of the invention is to allow forming containers, by means of the transformation of at least two continuous webs of film material, in such a way that the material that makes up the finished product constitutes a very high percentage of the material of the webs that were used at the outset.
A further advantage of the invention is to reduce the number of rejects.
Yet another further advantage is to provide a method that is relatively simple and cheap.